Nominated by: GK
Music club: Wander to Wozza's
Playlist addition: Afternoons and Coffeespoons
I don't have too many clearly distinct memories of 1993. Let me think. 1993 had me teaching at Waimea College in Nelson (I was Head of English). We had a family of four kids under 9 (Jade was two years old in 1993). Music was most definitely on the back burner. The Sivak family lived next door and their teenage children were into grunge and hard rock music, so I heard a lot of that. As for Cash Test Dummies - I definitely would have heard Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm on the radio but I didn't pay it too much attention.
Canadian folk rockers Crash Test Dummies have remained off my radar, until now! So, let's get to it!
There's a lot to like about the band and this album:
- They are Canadian, eh.
- Brad Roberts' deep, rich voice marks the band as different right off the bat.
- The harmony vocals (I love harmony singing) of Roberts and Ellen Reid's vocals provide a terrific balance.
- Roberts is an English lit student (yay!!) and his lyrics are different to the norm (he reminds me a little of Graeme Downs in this regard). Sartre and T S Elliot get a mention in Afternoons and Coffeespoons frinstance. I like his thoughtful approach (how come all my body parts so nicely fit together/ all my organs dong their job, no help from me). That line resonates - especially at the moment for us three when we rely on this happening so much.
- The humour - they don't take themselves too seriously. I like that. In the early nineties it was the grunge/ Heavy Metal era of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, CTD manage to stand out by not being all doom and gloomy.
- Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm is a damn fine song. Did condemn them to one-hit-wonder-hood though.
- Instruments - they use a broad palate - accordion, penny-whistle, mandolin are not your usual rock instruments.
- Genre-hopping. In an era dominated by grunge, CTD are more like a Canadian Waterboys - with a more folky element amidst the usual rock instruments.
Downside for me - I fell big time for the rockier sounding Hootie and the Blowfish in the mid nineties and preferred Darius Rucker's warmer, soulful, bluesy vocals. Plus, Hootie's more upbeat approach and humour suits me more, still. Which meant I completely missed the charms of Crash Test Dummies. Thanks for correcting that GK!
Highlights for me apart from Mmm: Afternoons and Coffeespoons; How Does a Duck Know; I Think I'll Disappear Now.
